Re: 3/27/01 - NH Police: New Haven Police Establish “TIPS” Hotline to Assist Police Investigations
Press Release
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: TUESDAY, MARCH 27, 2001
CONTACT PERSON: JUDITH MONGILLO, 203-946-6271
New Haven Police Establish “TIPS” Hotline to Assist Police Investigations
Suzanne Jovin Murder Investigation First Case To Be Profiled
NEW HAVEN - In an effort to engage the public’s help and support of crime incident investigation, the New Haven Department of Police Service in conjunction with the New Haven State’s Attorney’s Office has established a toll-free telephone hotline number, 1-866-888-TIPS. The telephone hotline will be answered by investigators assigned to the specific cases that are profiled. It will be in operation on an on-going basis.
The first case to be profiled is the murder of Suzanne Jovin. It has been over two years since she was murdered in the East Rock section of New Haven, and in spite of intense and sustained efforts of investigators, the case remains unsolved.
We are also announcing that Yale University, in its continued interest in seeking justice in this case, is contributing $100,000 to the existing reward fund, making the total reward $150,000 for the person or persons who supply information leading to the arrest and conviction of the person responsible for this brutal crime. If you have any information that may be helpful, don’t hesitate, please call 1-866-888-TIPS. All calls will remain confidential.
The night of December 4, 1998, was an unusually warm night and many people were on the street or driving through the East Rock neighborhood where this crime occurred. Witnesses have reported seeing a tan or brown van in the roadway near where Suzanne Jovin was found. We believe that there are other citizens who have information that can assist us in this investigation. There were many people in the area that evening, some who have not talked to police. Again, if you have any information regarding this van or any other information on this case, please call 1-866-888-TIPS.
The TIPS telephone hotline will be answered by investigators assigned to this case. In the first week of operation beginning today, it will be staffed 16 hours a day from 8:00am to midnight. It also has a voicemail system to receive calls while investigators are currently on the line or after regular business hours. This ensures that no call will be missed. Investigators will return all calls.
The Following Is A Synopsis Of The Facts In This Case
Suzanne Jovin was murdered on December 4, 1998, at about 9:45 p.m., on the south side of East Rock Road. She was stabbed numerous times in the head, neck, and back and left lying near a grassy patch adjacent to the sidewalk.
Shortly before Suzanne’s body was discovered, witnesses reported hearing what sounded like an argument between a man and a woman, and some reported hearing a scream. Other witnesses have said that as they approached the corner of East Rock and Edgehill Roads, they saw a tan or brown van stopped in the roadway facing east, immediately adjacent to where Suzanne was found.
At about 9:25 p.m., Suzanne was seen walking north on College Street towards Elm Street, coming from the direction of Phelps Gate on the Yale campus. This was the last time witnesses saw Suzanne prior to her meeting the person responsible for this vicious attack.
East Rock and Edgehill Roads are in a residential area about two miles from Phelps Gate. Suzanne could not have walked to the scene from Phelps Gate in the time that passed before she was murdered. Police believe that someone she knew drove Suzanne there. It is very unlikely that she would have voluntarily gotten into a car with a stranger, or that she was forcibly abducted without someone witnessing something.
Suzanne Jovin was the director of the Best Buddies Program for Yale, a volunteer program that seeks to enhance the lives of mentally disadvantaged adults from the New Haven community by providing one-to-one friendships with Yale students.
During the late afternoon and early evening of December 4th, Suzanne was actively involved with her volunteer work at Best Buddies. She had organized a holiday pizza party for the Best Buddy clients and their Yale counterparts at the Trinity Lutheran Church, at Wall and Orange Streets, that started at about 6:00 p.m.
Suzanne borrowed a car from the Yale car pool, and used it to transport some of the Best Buddies to and from the party. Shortly before 9:00 p.m., she returned the vehicle to a parking lot on Edgewood Avenue near Howe Street. She then went to her apartment at 256 Park Street for a brief time, and at approximately at 9:20 p.m., she was seen walking toward the Yale Police office at Phelps Gate on College Street between Elm and Chapel Streets where she turned in the keys for the borrowed Yale vehicle.
Interviews with friends, associates, and anyone who knew or came in contact with Suzanne Jovin, make it abundantly clear that she was a wonderful young woman, an outstanding student and extremely popular. More importantly, she was greatly admired as a person with a social conscience who gave so much of herself as a volunteer assisting people less fortunate than herself.
Again, we urge anyone with information – anyone who saw Suzanne between Phelps Gate and East Rock Road, or who knows anything about the tan or brown van, or who can add anything else about the case -- – call the New Haven Police Department at 1-866-888-TIPS. You can earn a reward of $150,000. All calls will be kept confidential.
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